“God has deliberately created diversity so we might get to know each other on a human level,” said Imam Jamal Rahman, one-third of the Interfaith Amigos.

During their keynote presentation at Saturday’s Regional Interfaith Conference, the panel described why appreciating their respective Muslim, Christian and Jewish beliefs has strengthened their individual spirituality.

Don Mackenzie, a Christian minister, and Ted Falcon, a Jewish rabbi, are the other two amigos.

“Each of us has grown to be connected far more than ever before to our own faith,” Falcon, who represents a synagogue in Seattle, said.

The rabbi said some religious believers are convinced theirs is the only true faith. Keeping an open mind and accepting others’ beliefs is a preferable way to view them, he said.

“It’s a risk to open ourselves to the spiritual wealth of another tradition,” he said. “Some of us carry the conviction that if others would just listen to us, everything would be OK.”

Mackenzie, who ministers at United Church of Christ in Minneapolis, outlined the trio’s perspective in the Bible’s book of John. He read the verse John 15:12, which states, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

Rahman, who is also from Seattle, read aloud from a similar verse found in the Koran.

“Each of our faiths have beautiful traditions that overlap,” he said.

The conference united about 140 people of the South Plains from multiple faiths. Organizers consider the event a great chance to compare views, many of which are actually fairly similar.

“We have more in common than we are different,” said Sue Morrow, a member of the Lubbock Interfaith Association. “It’s important that we come to know one another as individuals because knowledge and information have the capability of removing fear. That leads to greater peace.”

Treating others with kindness and respect, for instance, is a focus of nearly all faiths, Morrow said.

“At the core of every religion is the golden rule,” she said.

The conference was hosted in Holiday Inn Park Plaza, just off South Loop 289.